Fettuccine Cacciatore

This recipe is from a 2007 Kraft Foods catalog full of recipes. Someone used to give me these and they always had great recipes. If anyone knows if Kraft still makes these or where I can get them, PLEASE let me know!

This recipe only takes about 25 min and is really good! It makes 4, two cup servings.

Ingredients

8 oz fettuccine, uncooked

2 tsp EVOO

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup EACH green pepper strips and sliced mushrooms

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup Kraft Zesty Italian OR if you thought you had Italian and didn't you can make this delicious Italian dressing recipe which I've used multiple times (subbing real minced garlic for garlic powder)

1/2 cup Kraft shredded Italian/Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

(Hands down, best Italian dressing, ever. Tastes like a nice Italian restaurant's house dressing)

1. Cook pasta as directed on package.

2. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet, on medium high heat. 

3. Add chicken. Cook and stir until no longer pink. 

4. Add peppers and mushrooms, cook for 3 min.

5. Stir in dressing and tomatoes. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes).

6. Drain pasta, toss with chicken mixture, sprinkle with cheese and basil. 

We also made some garlic pita bread and salad to go with ours :) 

Artichoke Chicken with Roasted Potatoes

Alright, I'm finally up-to-date with my blogs! I made this recipe TONIGHT! I can't guarantee that this will last but for right now, I'm on the ball. I will be out of town Thursday-Monday this coming week so I may or may not be cooking and taking pictures but if I do, I will definitely post it later. My goal is to at least post my meal tomorrow and Wednesday night so I hope that works out!

This recipe was taken from a Pampered Chef cookbook so it was a little tough because the recipes are meant to be used with their ingredients and materials. There are definitely some things that I would change when I make this again.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

6 small red or yellow potatoes

2 tbsp Mayo with Olive Oil

Thyme, Rosemary and Lemon Juice

one 3.5oz can of marinated artichoke hearts

1oz parmesan cheese

1. Preheat broiler. Cut potatoes and steam in microwave for 4-5 minutes. Chop artichokes into small pieces and mix with parmesan cheese and mayo. (The next time I make this, I will only use the cheese and artichoke hearts. Even though not a lot of mayo was used, it still overpowered the taste of the cheese and artichokes). 

2. Heat oil in 2 skillets. Place chicken in one skillet, drizzle with lemon juice, thyme and rosemary. Do the same for potatoes. Add S&P to taste.

3. Cook chicken on both sides until no pink remains but do not cook all the way through. Transfer to pan, coated in cooking spray, and cover with artichoke mixture. Place in broiler, about 5 minutes until cheese melts and starts to turn brown. Continue cooking potatoes.

4. Serve and Enjoy!!! 

This artichoke mixture would probably taste great over fish, like a thick white fish or salmon, as well! 

"Easy Peasy" Chicken Pot PIe

I decided I needed to steal the term, "easy peasy," from 2 of my favorite people, Fashion Momma and Semi-Homemade Suzie, because they use it quite often. Plus, this recipe is super easy and it's definitely a comfort food for a nasty rainy day, and this past Saturday was.

If you have noticed, lately I've spread out from my normal Everyday Food, Martha Stewart recipes and have scoured my pantry full of cookbooks for new recipes.

You can find the Chicken Pot Pie recipe I used here, on the Cooking Light website. It's actually for small ramekin sized pot pies but I just made a large one.

Ingredients

 1 package of 2 Pillsbury Pie crusts

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1tsp sage (I chopped up about 6 leaves of fresh sage because I had it)

S&P

2 chicken breasts, cut in small pieces

1 10 1/2 oz can of low sodium cream of chicken soup

10 1/2 oz of water (refill the soup can)

1 1/2 cups of frozen mixed veggies (I used the ones with lima beans, green beans, carrots, corn, and peas)

1 cup of mushrooms, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425

2. In a pie dish, place one pie crust onto the dish as listed on the box and bake for 10 minutes

3. Combine flour, sage, S&P into a ziploc bag and add chicken, toss to coat. 

4. Heat a skillet over med-high heat. Coat with oil or cooking spray. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in water, veggies, mushrooms and soup. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook about 10 min.

5. Spoon chicken and veggies into pie crust.

6. Cover with second pie crust and fold edges over to seal. Vent pie crust with fork.

7. Bake for another 10-20 min (based on how brown you want the pie crust). I baked mine for about 15 minutes.

Sorry I couldn't get a good "plate" picture! It fell apart on the plate and didn't look picture worthy but it was delicious to eat, especially with a little hot sauce on top! 

Chicken Curry (and it's not a Martha Recipe)

Yep, I changed it up on you guys. Contrary to what you may believe, I do have other cookbooks besides Martha Stewart. This one is from a Rachel Ray book from her 30 Minute Meals collection called "GUY FOOD." This recipe has a long name, it's called:

Sweet n' Spicy Chicken Curry in a Hurry  with Fragrant Basmati Rice

What.A.Mouthful

It was delicious and it doesn't taste like your typical curry from a restaurant so I highly recommend it!

Ingredients

2 cups of basmati rice (I used Jasmine)

1 tsp each: coriander seeds, mustard seeds and cumin

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, diced

2-4 garlic gloves (I used 2 large ones)

1 to 2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled & minced

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 cup of chicken broth

2 tablespoons of curry paste (I used red curry paste)

For garnishes you can use:

4 scallions, chopped

1 cup toasted coconut

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1 cup prepared mango chutney

1/4 cilantro, chopped

(I used scallions, coconut, almonds and cilantro)

1. Toast coriander and mustard seeds in the bottom of a sauce pan. When seeds pop, add water and bring to a boil. Add rice and cumin and cook according to package. 

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and lightly brown. Add garlic, ginger, and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of broth (or I added a bullion cube and 1 cup of water) and bring to a bubble. Stir in curry paste and reduce heat to medium low. Add salt to taste and simmer 5 to 10 min.

Serve rice with curry and toppings! I added a vegetable side to my meal because I'm kind of crazy about veggies and I have to have at least one with every meal or it doesn't feel like it's complete. This time I steamed some cauliflower!

You can find the original recipe on the Food Network website! Enjoy!

Whitney's Paella!!!

Ok guys, there isn't a recipe for this. I'm sorry. Ever since I went to Spain, I've been making this yummy dish and it's really easy and makes enough to last for days, or freeze! I usually make it differently each time and in the past year I can think of 2 times where it was definitely the, "best I've made so far," and did I write it down? No, of course not. This past time was pretty good but definitely not the BEST of the best. Anyways, at least I have a picture of the ingredients now! When I make it again, if it's better, I'll post the new recipe and I promise, I'll write it down!

Ingredients

This is what I used this time around:

3 chorizo links (remove casing and then separate in pan)

Vigo Yellow Rice (it already has seasoning in it!)

1/2 red (or any color) onion, chopped

1 orange and red pepper, chopped

1/2 a bag of baby carrots

1 1/2 cups of frozen peas

Asparagus (I use different amounts depending on the size of the stalks)

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 small can (I think it's 6oz) of tomato paste

Chili powder, thyme, oregano and parsley (all to taste)

Cilantro for serving

**You can also add in shrimp, boneless/skinless chicken thighs (cut up) or any other types of pork or seafood

1. In a large heavy pot or dutch oven, cook chorizo and break apart (you can also add chicken or pork at this step too)

2. Once chorizo is cooked, add rice and stir, then add 4 cups of water to pot.

3. Let rice cook (simmer) about 5 min, and stir to make sure it's not sticking.  Add the carrots. 

4. After carrots soften, add peppers, onions, asparagus, tomatoes and tomato paste. You may need to add a cup or 2 cups more of water to allow veggies to cook. 

5. Once the rice starts to cook, you can taste the broth and determine if you want to add additional spices. Cook veggies until desired softness, then add peas (and any seafood).

6. Continue to cook until warmed through and most of the broth is soaked up into the rice.

7. Serve with chopped cilantro, some hot sauce and lemon juice!

Slow-Cooker Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sammies

I made this recipe the day before the final play off game. It lasted for a few days which was great! I originally made it for a FAB 5 get together that didn't go off as well as planned due to some last minute incidents but I did appreciate the short amount of time I got to spend with my girls. They can tell you, this was yummy!

P.S. I'm currently using this beautiful beast in the picture below to rest my cookbooks on. He is sleeping on my bed taking up space so now he has to be a prop and help his momma with her blog! He doesn't seem to mind :)

Ok, so back to why you're here...the recipe!

Ingredients

1 tbsp EVOO

1 lb boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces

S&P

1 lb boneless, skinless, chicken thighs cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium yellow onion, diced small

3 garlic cloves, chopped or minced

1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced small

1 can (14.5) oz crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup of hot sauce (I used extra HOT Frank's)

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp yellow mustard (I used spicy brown/yellow mustard)

1 tbsp unsulfured molasses

2 tbsp tomato paste

8 hamburger buns 

You will need a slow cooker (crock pot) and I would recommend a potato masher for this recipe

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add chicken thighs, season with S&P and cook, stirring once until meat is golden brown, 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to slow cooker, leaving as much oil behind as possible, repeat with chicken breasts.

**Ok, I deviated, kind of a lot, from this step. First of all, as you can see from the picture, I had frozen chicken breasts and a WHOLE rotisserie chicken. I cut up and skinned the rotisserie chicken which I will post below. I cooked the dark meat, whole, in the pan until brown but I just defrosted the chicken breasts till they were only slightly frozen and then I placed it in the slow cooker. By leaving the dark meat on the bone, I was able to let it cook and just slide off the bone.**

(here you can see the browned dark meat on top of the chicken breast)

2. To skillet, add onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook over medium, stirring constantly until onion is translucent, 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water and cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits from skillet, 5 minutes. Season with S&P and transfer to slow cooker. 

3. To slow cooker, add crushed tomatoes, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire, tomato paste, mustard, and molasses. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on high until chicken is tender, 4 hours. Shred chicken (this is where you would use a masher) and add any additional seasoning (I added more hot sauce, of course), and serve on lightly toasted hamburger buns.

(all ingredients, prior to stirring, in crock pot)

I served this with the roomie's cole slaw which we didn't get pictures of. Also, I forgot to take pictures of the served meal, apparently, because I can't find them anywhere on my camera or computer. In my defense I did serve it about 5 hours after I did these initial pictures and people were over and having fun (sangria was involved). Forgive me??